(Newser)
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A diplomat has been allowed to visit Euna Lee and Laura Ling for the first time since North Korea sentenced the US journalists to 12 years' hard labor, CNN reports. The Swedish ambassador, acting on behalf of the US, met with the journalists in Pyongyang, according to the State Department. The ambassador is pressing the North Koreans for more information on the women, and "many different avenues" are being pursued in a bid to free them, said US officials.